'Mostly foreigners'12:33 GMT - Most of the 10 people killed in the suicide bombing in Istanbul are foreigners, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus says."Most of those killed are foreigners," Kurtulmus says in Ankara, adding that two of the 15 wounded are in a serious condition. He also says the bomber has been identified as a Syrian national born in 1988.

'German victims'13:00 GMT - Angela Merkel says German nationals are "probably" among the victims of today's suicide bombing."We don't have all the information yet... but we fear that German citizens could be and probably are also among the victims and injured," the German Chancellor says.

'Jihadist style'13:15 GMT - "The style of the attack, a suicide bomber and the attack (target), a group of tourists, suggests a jihadist attack," a Western diplomat tells AFP."If this is the case, it's a sign that Daesh has decided to attack the Turkish state," he adds, using an Arabic name for IS.

Main points so far13:35 GMT - - Ten people, mostly foreigners, died when a Syrian suicide bomber blew himself up in Istanbul's busiest tourist district - The explosion close to the Ottoman-era Blue Mosque in Sultanahmet was powerful enough to be heard in adjacent neighbourhoods- Images showed several mutilated corpses lying on the ground near the mosque- Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu convened an emergency security meeting with ministers and officials- German nationals are "probably" among the victims, according to Chancellor Angela Merkel

'German tour group'14:09 GMT - Chancellor Angela Merkel says members of a German tour group are among the likely casualties and that German officials are working with their Turkish counterparts to determine the identities of the victims and offer assistance to their loved ones.Merkel says the latest attack will deepen German resolve to combat international terrorism.

'Today Istanbul'14:11 GMT - "Today it hit Istanbul, it has hit Paris, it hit Tunisia, it had already hit Ankara," Angela Merkel says at a press conference following talks with visiting Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal."International terrorism once again showed its cruel and inhuman face and along with the sorrow that we of course feel, it once again shows the necessity to act decisively against terrorism and ultimately overcome these atrocities."

'Germans dead'14:16 GMT - Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has offered his condolences to Chancellor Angela Merkel over the Istanbul boming."Davutoglu expressed his sadness over the deaths of the 10 victims, most of whom were German and presented his condolences to" the chancellor, the Anatolia news agency quoted the prime minister's office as saying after a telephone call between Merkel and the premier.

Syrian opposition14:28 GMT - Syria's opposition coalition denounces the Istanbul attack.The Istanbul-based National Coalition "strongly condemns the terrorist explosion... and presents its condolences to the families of the victims," the group says in an online statement.According to Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus, the attacker was a Syrian national born in 1988.Turkey has been a staunch supporter of Syria's uprising since it erupted in 2011, and hosts more than one million refugees from the neighbouring country.

'Nine Germans dead'14:36 GMT - At least nine Germans were among the 10 people killed in Istanbul, a Turkish government official says."There are at least nine Germans among the 10 killed," the official tells AFP.

Strategy change?14:51 GMT - If today's attack was carried out by the Islamic State, it would reflect a shift in the group's strategy and herald a broader campaign against Turkey, says Firas Abi Ali, senior analyst at IHS Country Risk."The group's videos threatening Turkey suggest that it calculates that a confrontation with Turkey is inevitable," he says.

IS losses14:55 GMT - Islamic State's territorial losses in Iraq and Syria may well have led the group to assess that it needs to expand its influence and capability in Turkey before it can reverse those losses, Firas Abi Ali of IHS adds in a note."If so, this is a high-risk endeavour that will likely provoke a significant backlash by the Turkish government," he says.

IS Turkish network14:57 GMT - "Given that the Islamic State has established a significant logistics and support base network in Turkey, used to smuggle people and supplies into its territories, the Islamic State most likely has the capability to launch an extended terrorist campaign inside Turkey," Firas Abi Ali says."This would, however, put its current relative freedom of movement across Turkey and into Syria/Iraq at risk," the analyst says.

Tourism blow15:02 GMT - Travel and tourism generated 12 percent of Turkey's GDP in 2014, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.Directly and indirectly, travel and tourism employed 2.13 million people in Turkey.

'IS to blame'15:10 GMT - Today's suicide bombing was carried out by a jihadist from the Islamic State extremist group, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says."We have determined that the perpetrator of the attack is a foreigner who is a member of Daesh," Dautoglu said in Ankara, using an Arabic acronym for IS. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier confirmed the bomber was of Syrian origin.

16:06 GMT - AFP IS CLOSING THIS LIVE REPORT after a Syrian suicide bomber struck in the heart of Istanbul's busy tourist district, killing 10 people, nine of them Germans, in the latest deadly attack blamed on Islamic State jihadists.Grisly images from the scene showed several mutilated corpses lying on the ground close to the Ottoman-era Blue Mosque in Sultanahmet, a district that is home to the biggest concentration of historic monuments in the ancient city.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attack was carried out "by a suicide bomber of Syrian origin," while Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the perpetrator belonged to the Islamic State extremist group.